What
does it mean to be made in the image of God?
Consider
the word “image.” It suggests a picture, an illustration or drawing, a
photograph, an idea. But it doesn’t suggest the reality of a thing – only the
representation of the reality.
Today,
in the hypermedia, 24-hours news cycle world we live in, we hear “image” and we
think “reputation.” But is our reputation the same the reality of our self?
Perhaps. Perhaps not.
“Image”
has a physical connotation. But, in the sense described in Genesis 2, where “God
made man in his image, male and female he made them,” the idea of image is more
profound, and more complex, than mere physical appearance or similarity.
One
aspect of the complexity of the image we bear is the creative impulse. Made in
God’s image, we image-bearers are creators as well.
In
A
Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Made to Live, author Emily Freeman
explores this creative impulse. She notes the apostle Paul’s explanation in the
letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2, that we are a masterpiece, or workmanship,
made to do good things. And she notes that the Greek word translated as “masterpiece”
is poeima, the same word that gives “poem.”
“What
happens when God writes poetry?” she asks.
“We
do,” she answers. “We happen.”
And
she goes on. “We are walking poetry, the kind that moves, the kind who has
hands and feet, the kind with mind and will and emotion. We are what happens
when God expresses himself.”
This
is the same idea behind my book, Poetry
at Work. I wasn’t as direct as Freeman is; she’s speaking largely to
Christians and I am speaking to a broader audience. The idea of my book is that
poetry is inherent in the work we do. What I don’t say in the book is that the
work we do is done in the creative image of God, whether we believe in God’s existence
or not.
A
colleague at work, going through kind of a bad patch, read Poetry at Work. “I had no idea,” he told me, “how much this would
help me make sense of it all. Something much bigger than work is at play here.”
I
make the implication at several points in the book, but it is my heart’s desire
for readers of Poetry at Work to ask the question, if poetry is inherent in the
work we do, then where does it come from?
Over
at The High Calling today, Laura
Boggess is beginning the February book discussion on A Million Little Ways. Her post introducing the book will be live
at 2 p.m. Central time.
Image by Tony Melena via Public
Domain Pictures. Used with permission.
Lovely intro to the book, Glynn.
ReplyDeleteLovely intro to the book, Glynn.
ReplyDeleteGlynn, Your thoughts are of interest to me for a couple reasons. I attend a church that recognizes the conventional church year starting with Advent, (month before Christmas) and ending at Thanksgiving. This past weekend emphasis was on Jesus being the Light Of The World, and alongside that was another thought of how one in authority was anointed with oil so as to recognize that one as authority. As you point out we are poems or poetry in our world, we are also lights in our world anointed with God's oil to keep us fueled in our mission in this world. Nice to read this on Monday, which for me begins my work week!
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely intro to Emily's fine book, Glynn. And I love the parallels you've drawn to another fine book, your own. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading both of these books at some point.
ReplyDelete